Will Ross be paid during his leave? Nobody seems to know

Scott Ross — College Board president, West Point mayor and practicing attorney — is taking a leave of absence from his mayor’s post, according to Columbus TV station WCBI.

Magnolia Marketplace first heard about this yesterday at Hobnob. Since yesterday around noon, multiple voicemails we left on Ross’ cell phone and messages we left at his office have gone unreturned. The messages at his office going unreturned makes sense now that we know about the leave of absence. The cell phone messages being ignored? Baffling.

So with no response from Ross, we called West Point City Hall this morning with the intention of finding out if Ross would continue to draw a check from the City of West Point while he’s on leave, the details of which and reasons behind have not been explained by anybody.

The first person from City Hall we got on the phone was Rod Bobo, West Point’s Ward 1 selectman.

“I have no idea,” he responded when we asked him if Ross would be paid while he takes leave.

The next person we talked to was a very nice lady from the city clerk’s office. She didn’t know either. She did put us in touch with Orlando Richmond, an attorney who represents the city. Richmond was also very nice.

“I have not explored that issue,” Richmond answered when we asked him the pay question. “There are obviously a number of questions surrounding (Ross taking leave), and that’s one of them.”

Richmond hopes to have the pay issue resolved next week.

“There will be times when the mayor is unavailable,” Richmond said. “His absence for periods of time does not affect the function of city government. Leave for any official is not unusual. Because we don’t have a time frame (for how long Ross’ leave will last), I’m not at all suggesting that there would be any lapse in pay.”

So here’s what we know: Ross is taking a leave of absence from one of his two day jobs.

Here’s what we don’t know: Why is he taking leave? How long will he take it? Will West Point pay him while he takes it? And how is this going to affect his work for the College Board?